Many readers, probably already planning their spring and summer travels, have asked for advice about buying when at airports abroad. Within Europe, thanks to the overall reduction of taxes between nations, the days of airport Duty Free shops are now largely a thing of the past. Happily, many of the more sophisticated airports continue to maintain excellent delicatessen shops at which one can purchase many food and alcohol related items that are either outrageously expensive or unavailable locally. Following are a few hints for what I consider the best buys to be made in a variety of international airports.

Paris, Charles de Gaulle: At the shops of "Faugeron" you will find the best selection of dried mushrooms in all of France as well as an excellent selection of classic French cheeses. Miss shopping here and you'll regret it forever.

London, Heathrow and Gatwick: "Higgins: Coffee Man" is undoubtedly one of the greatest coffee suppliers in the world and the company now has stores at both airports at each of which you can taste more than 100 varietal and blended coffees. Even if you do not make a purchase, put your name on the mailing list and you will receive regular bulletins that allow you to order coffee by mail.

New York, John F. Kennedy: The New York State Cheddar cheese sold at the delicatessen shop here is exquisite and the bacon (sold unsliced in 1/2 kilo, 1 kilo or 5 kilo slabs) is the very best that America has to offer.

Athens: The delicatessen shop offers one of the few opportunities you will ever have to buy genuine Hymettus Honey, a honey so rich that the Greeks believe that when the bees who make it die they go to Mount Olympus to live with the gods. Also be sure to try some of the hard cheeses sold here, especially the rock-hard kephalari, which can be either fried as you would chalumi cheese or used as an interesting change from Parmesan.

Frankfurt: At the delicatessen stock up on high quality fresh knockwurst, bratwurst, and any of the other German sausages you love. Also keep your eyes out for the Rhine Valley white wines that are available at good prices. If you have extra time before your flight, consider a visit to Dr. Muller's Sex Shop. Nothing to eat, drink or smoke here but you will definitely pass a few amusing moments.

Denver: The delicatessen shop has great smoked venison and an excellent selection of fine American cheeses.

Rome, Leonardo da Vinci: Buy as much Parmesan cheese as you can carry back. Also be sure to stock up on the Parma and Proscuitto hams that are offered. (Buy them in blocks, not sliced). Also worth buying, when they are in season, are the white truffles from Tuscany and the villages of the Abruzzi Mountains.

Atlanta: Whether Proscuitto or Smithfield Ham is better is something that gourmets will argue over forever. The Smithfield hams sold here (from Virginia and Kentucky) are of the highest possible quality. If possible, buy a whole ham. It will last forever. Also be sure to visit the "Peachtree" bookstore, where you will find a remarkable selection of wine and food CDRoms.

Vienna: The gourmet shop here offers quails, rabbits, and wild boar cutlets both uncooked or cooked in aspic. Definitely worth bringing home. Also buy a few bottles of the young white wines known as "heuriger". There is nothing fancy or expensive about these wines but they make for delightful drinking with meat, fish or anything else you can think of.

Miami: After feasting at the oyster bar, enter the seafood shop there to buy fresh stone crabs and Caribbean conch. The store will package them in special containers so that the seafood will arrive alive at the end of your travels.

Geneva: Surprisingly, this is the best place in the world to buy black Perigord truffles. Buy them fresh when in season, in oil when they are not. If your budget is limited, buy the excellent truffle paste or truffle essence that is sold. Also buy the excellent Emmenthal and Gruyere cheeses that are sold here.

Ireland, Shannon: Best variety of smoked salmon you will find anywhere and at remarkably reasonable prices.

Lisbon: At the fine wine shop you will find an excellent selection of vintage Port wines, many at good prices. Also consider bringing back a few bottles of the simple but outrageously pleasant vino verde, the young, "green" wine of the country.

Boston: Live lobsters, oysters and clams are great buys here and will be packaged for survival. Do not pass up the opportunity to purchase some of the exquisite maple syrup from Vermont.

Tokyo: Best prices in the world for Scotch Whiskey and Bordeaux wines. Be sure especially to check the available of the wines of Chateau Petrus, which sometimes sell for less than 30% of the current prices in Paris and London.

Edinborough: A great variety of jams, marmalades, and preserved citrus-fruits. Don't miss the opportunity to stock up on smoked kippers, the herrings the Scots enjoy so much for breakfast.

Brussels: Stock up on any of the eight excellent varietal coffees produced by Rombouts. If eel is among your favorite treats, you will find fine fresh or smoked examples here.

San Francisco and Los Angeles: Best bets here are for American and Canadian cheeses, tinned or fresh American made goose liver pate that is as good as you will find in France, and applejack, the hard American apple cider that makes a wonderful after-dinner drink.

Edibles to Avoid

In mutual senses of consumer consciousness and good humor, it would be unfair not to mention some of those foods and beverages offered in airport shops that should be avoided at all costs.

Corfu: Kumquat liqueur may be a specialty of this charming Greek Island, but this hyper-sweet, coarse and burning liqueur is definitely a candidate for being one of the world's worst alcoholic beverages. If you do buy a bottle, be sure to give it to someone you dislike rather intensely.

Marseilles: When the people who wrote the bible coined the word "abomination", they must have been anticipating the tinned bouillabaise and the tinned crab soup that are sold at the airport shops.

Antalya: The airport shops here are tourist-traps par-excellence. Whatever one things of this Turkish coastal region, do not be fooled by the cheap prices of the cigarettes, cigars and alcoholic beverages sold at the airport. There is a very good chance that they are so cheap because the labels are counterfeit and whatever you buy will prove undrinkable, unsmokeable and otherwise unspeakable.

Jamaica: One of the most charming islands in the world but be very, very careful when it comes to buying the Blue Mountain Coffee that is sold at the airport shops for prices ranging from $4 - $12 per 250 gram tin. Don't misunderstand, Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee is one of the world's greatest coffees but Jamaica has a major industry in buying, grinding and tinning coffee beans that never even saw the shadow of the famous mountain in question and probably came from Mexico or Guatamala. Best place in the world to buy good Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee is probably at Higgins Coffee Man in London.

Sidney and Melbourne: The delicatessen shops at the airports here have huge displays of tins and vacuum packs of the meat of kangaroos, ostriches, emus and crocodile. Even if you have had a secret dream of one day eating these things, the examples offered at most shops are of outrageously low quality and are sold at outrageously high prices.

Tasmania: I've never figured out what the tinned "dragon meat" that is sold here really consists of. Whatever, it has as much charm as the chocolate coated ants that are also sold.

Rio de Janeiro: Fejoada is the national dish of Brazil, but the tinned versions sold at the airport are so bad that any self-respecting Brazillian (or American, Israeli, Frenchman or Chinaman) would be embarrassed to serve it.

Teheran: If by any odd chance you find yourself at the airport here, do not buy any of the varieties of caviar that are sold, all of which exist in much higher quality and at far lower prices in London, Paris, Monte Carlo and New York.

Lima, Peru: I do not know whether anyone has ever actually bought any of the tins of the llama fat that are sold here. If they have, I have no idea of what they have done with them. My guess is that the best use for these tins is to throw them unopened at an enemy. To my sorrow, I did once try the tinned, smoked iguana meat that is sold here. That was not a mistake I will repeat.

© Daniel Rogov